Hobby Lobby opens in Sierra VIsta

Mark Levy • Herald/Review
Harue Bishop peruses a large selection of artificial flowers Saturday in the new Sierra Vista Hobby Lobby store. The store will have its official grand opening Monday.

SIERRAVISTA — It has a shopping area of 46,000 square feet and when the storage space is added, its total of 55,000 square feet is capable of displaying and holding more than 65,000 types of items.

And it’s a place that is drawing shoppers from all over Cochise County.

Monday, Sept. 9, Hobby Lobby will have its official grand opening with a 9 a.m. ribbon cutting, even though its doors have been open to buyers since last Wednesday.

On Saturday, store manager Mat Dominguez took a Herald/Review reporter and photographer on walk through the store, highlighting some of what customers will see while shopping.

One thing customers will like are the wide aisles in many areas, he said.

The display areas are designed to highlight the various items to include a major fabric section, something Dominguez said others in similar businesses seem to be going away from.

“We are proud of our wide selection of arts and crafts,” he said.

Coming to Sierra Vista from Albuquerque, N.M., Dominguez said the store is open Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays so its 85 local employees can have time with their families to worship. The store, which is part of a Christian-owned family business, also closes on Christmas.

Hobby Lobby caters to many hobbyists, home decorators and those who have seasonal interests, Dominguez said.

Already the store has fall, Halloween and Christmas items on display.

As he walked and talked, an occasional sales person would approach with a question. He provided the answer and off they would go to help the customer who first broached the query. Or, if a customer wanted to know where an item could be found, he would help that person.

Walking around the store was Collista Van Sickle of Benson and her family.

“We love Hobby Lobby,” she said.

And now that there is one in Sierra Vista “I don’t have to go to Tucson,” Van Sickle said.

I am appalled that the Herald would be giving free advertising to a company
that seeks to impose the religious beliefs of its owners on its workforce.
Sierra Vista has a distinguished history of rejecting religio-fascistic
practices, e.g., in the rejection of the Catholic Church’s buyout of our
medical center and its avowed purpose to limit women’s reproductive choices
once they had ownership. Hobby Lobby has sought to overthrow the Affordable
Care Act, financing republican attempts to quash this historic legislation
and all because the owners of this store believe that their Christian beliefs
trump the beliefs and rights of their workforce. The idea that your employer
owns your soul went out at the turn of the century. Sierra Vistans who shop
at this store are fueling this medieval throwback with their hard earned
money. And the Herald should not be giving free advertising to this company.
It is NOT in the public good.